Alaska, Its Neglected Past, Its Brilliant Future

BUSHROD WASHINGTON JAMES

Publication: The Sunshine Publishing Company, 1897, Philadelphia

First edition. 8vo. Author's photograph mounted on a front fly leaf and surrounding the photograph is "Compliment of Bushrod Washington James." Decorated green cloth with an ornamental color border of pine cones and titles stamped in gilt on the front cover and spine, 444 pp., plus 4 pp. of advertisements, frontispiece, preface, illustrated, 33 plates, 16 maps (one double-page), supplementary data, bibliography of Alaska, index. The author, a Philadelphia physician, author, and enthusiastic advocate for Alaska's development, combines an account of his own travels with descriptions of the region's geography, climate, glaciers, wildlife, Indigenous peoples, mining districts, and commercial resources. He discusses the discovery and exploitation of gold deposits, the routes available to prospective miners, the equipment and physical endurance required for the journey, and the difficulties of reaching the gold fields across rugged terrain. Additional chapters address the fur-seal fisheries of the Pribilof Islands and the controversy surrounding pelagic sealing in the Bering Sea. Kurutz says "This thick volume, while providing a superb overall description of the area, squeezes in much material on the 'boiling fever' over the Klondike, covering such routine topics as routes, conditions, and relations with Canada, especially with regard to mining laws, customs, and the Mounted Police." The author warns would-be miners that only those with excellent health, know-how, patience, and fiscal resources should go. From the library of former California State Librarian, Gary Kurutz. Letters on spine somewhat faded, but clearly readable, else a very good tight copy.